WEST PALM BEACH —Opening statements will begin Monday morning in the long-delayed trial of Jerry Wiggins for the 2004 rape and murder of a Peruvian nanny in suburban Boca Raton.

Wiggins, now 38, was arrested in North Carolina in 2005 when his DNA matched that found under the fingernails of Monica Marina Rivera Valdizan. The 26-year-old aspiring journalist, who moved to South Florida to improve her English, was abducted from a Publix store in suburban Boca Raton. Three days later, her bruised and battered body was found in the bushes on Montoya Circle North, near the home where she lived and worked as a nanny to four children.

During jury selection last week, Wiggins was forced to wear a stun belt when he ignored deputies orders and then refused to answer a judge’s questions about his outburst. The belt was taken off a day later when Wiggins told Palm Beach County Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes he could behave.

Questions about Wiggins’ sanity and intelligence have repeatedly delayed his trial. His attorneys continue to maintain he is incompetent.

However, over the years, court-appointed psychologists have disagreed about his fitness to stand trial. While his IQ is in the 60s, below the level when someone is considered mentally retarded, they have said he understand the charges he faces. Judges, including Kastrenakes, said he is faking insanity in hopes circumventing the justice system.

He was convicted of the 2003 rape of a 14-year-old Broward County girl. In 2007, a jury deadlocked after an eight-day trial in which he faced an attempted murder charge in connection with a violent 2003 attack on a couple in their home near Greenacres.

WASHINGTON/TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - Students galvanized by the deadly mass shooting at a Florida high school confronted lawmakers on Wednesday with demands to restrict sales of assault rifles, while President Donald Trump suggested arming teachers as a way to stop more U.S. rampages.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New sealed criminal charges have been filed in federal court in the case brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller against two of President Donald Trump's former campaign officials, a court record indicated on Wednesday.

(Reuters) - Sam Nunberg, a former political aide to Donald Trump, will be interviewed on Thursday as part of a U.S. special counsel's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

PODGORICA (Reuters) - An unknown person threw an explosive device, probably a hand grenade, at the United States embassy building in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, before blowing himself up, the government said on Thursday.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea spent around 240 million won ($223,237) on the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and her entourage during their three-day visit for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, a government official said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's rate-setting committee showed more confidence in the need to keep raising interest rates at its last policy meeting, with most believing that inflation would perk up.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - China's rising power and a resurgent trans-Pacific trade pact will be at the top of the agenda when Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and U.S. President Donald Trump meet in Washington this week, an Australian official said on Thursday.

(Reuters) - U.S. evangelist Billy Graham, who counseled presidents and preached to millions across the world from his native North Carolina to communist North Korea during his 70 years in the pulpit, died on Wednesday at the age of 99, a spokesman said.

DHAKA/BHASAN CHAR/COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Bangladesh is racing to turn an uninhabited and muddy Bay of Bengal island into home for 100,000 Rohingya Muslims who have fled a military crackdown in Myanmar, amid conflicting signals from top Bangladeshi officials about whether the refugees would end up being stranded there.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. hate groups expanded last year under President Donald Trump, fueled by his immigration stance and the perception that he sympathized with those espousing white supremacy, the Southern Poverty Law Center said on Wednesday

The SLAP

Bill Cosby Biographer

Bill Cosby’s biographer provides a comprehensive look at the famed comedian’s life, warts and all

I’m Vanessa Cunningham

Founder and CEO of Unhealthy No More™, Inc.

On the set of “Our Town”

Mr. Cummings with his long term friend and fabulous actor, David Hyland. He portrays Sam Craig.